Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/716619
24 P E R S P E C T I V E | S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 6 Paul Feig and cinematographer Bob Yeoman frequently employ multiple cameras to capture the often-improvised action, and since any background could be filmed at any given time, flexibility is intrinsic to the success of the set. Last-minute ideas on filming day fall most heavily on the prop crew and costuming staff, but they can also involve last-minute Art Department intervention to lend support to an evolving comic line. Solving the typical problems of set access becomes even more important as it can be especially hard to hide a crew and a battery of lighting when four cameras are working simultaneously at cross angles in a scene. I try to design and build complete four-wall environments for this reason. The last thing the director needs is to run out of set, or not to be able to cheat another camera into the set to capture a last-minute comedy idea. Sets are commonly overscale to allow extra room for staging as long as it does not compromise the look of the space. I am careful to talk this through with the cinematographer so they can Above: A production photograph of Rowan Elgin's basement laboratory and the "Big Device" he built to open a portal between the human world and the Netherworld. The location for this set was the basement boiler room of a public school in Boston, selected for its scale, as well as its period details, to play as a convincing sub-basement of the Mercado Hotel. The Device's built-in light and smoke effects would be further enhanced by the visual effects team during post production. Opposite page: A series of development studies by Peter Rubin for some of the film's more familiar ghosts provided the groundwork for the creatures that would be completed by visual effects animators. Included are subway denizens (right, top and center), evil Macy's parade balloons (left, center and bottom), a ghostly Rowan Elgin (center) that purposefully suggests to Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the first film, and a frame capture (upper left) showing the completed theater demon based on Tully Summers' original design on this issue's cover. help cheat the size back down with the camera, to maintain physical and emotional accuracy. Sets are commonly tricked out with multiple wild walls and hidden-camera portals anyway, but if things can fit within the walls of the set, filming is more efficient. It helps to have it both ways. For Ghostbusters, a key element of our planning was the many set lighting conferences with Bob Yeoman and gaffer John Vecchio. The extra layers of stunts and special effects, and the extensive visual effects sequences, made these meetings important to a successful outcome. These meetings were welcome events with fellow Feig veterans, since we had all served together on his projects before. These tended to be creative meetings as well, where we hammered out visual ideas to pursue and develop. Once we agreed on a mutually pleasing solution, we would bring Paul Feig in to render a final opinion, and perhaps, refine the concept further. This kind of coordinated visual planning, when it clicks, gets to the heart of working in a collaborative medium like film, and can be enormously fruitful and satisfying. ADG